Ohio! Snowing!

I could not post last night because I have no internet connection at the rental house. We arrived yesterday, around noon. Tired, but safe. Our rental house is packed with boxes and furniture, but at least we have our own bed! The cats are so happy not to be moving.

As I type this, we're having quite the little snow flurry. The flakes started small, but are getting bigger. Our little blue car is now having snowflakes fall on it - first time!

We're at our sister-in-law's house doing laundry. Our rental house does not have a washer or dryer. Boy, we were nearly out of underwear. You could almost see the sign flashing: Danger! Laundry needs to be done!

We're going house-hunting on Friday. Our first formal adventure into house-buying with a local realtor. She's very nice and has been quite cooperative.

I'll post pictures when I can.

Terre Haute, IN

Today's highlight was definitely the arch in St. Louis. We drive right by it. The surrounding area is the very definition of urban blight, but then there's this beautiful arch. It's amazing. No pictures, because we were driving. Too bad.

Then we drove through Illinois - not a part I've been to before. Mostly farms and interstate 70. Not too exciting. Tomorrow we're done. Yay. We should have 1/2 day of driving. The cats will be happy not be caged all day long.

Today's picture is our room in Terre Haute, IN. I realize it's not very colorful, but remember you're dealing with people who've been driving for days. We're a lean, mean driving machine - with two cats.

Love to family and friends.

Joplin, MO

Another long day, but the scenery was better. Lots of very pretty redbuds in bloom in Oklahoma - splashes of purple among willows and oaks not yet leafed out. It was cold all day long - never got higher than 45 degrees and the wind was biting.

We'll cross Missouri tomorrow and go into Illinois at St. Louis. Then we'll dash across southern Illinois and spend the night at Terre Haute, IN.

Hey, gas is much cheaper now. I paid $3.399 in Joplin. Now that's a bargain. We got weighed in a weigh station in Arizona and the truck weighs 26,000 pounds. No wonder it guzzles diesel (and money). I think it gets less than 9 miles/gallon. I'm getting used to handing $100 bills to people who work in gas/diesel stations.

The day's picture is the "something for everyone" sign above our motel. Apparently, Joplin does not share San Luis Obispo's dislike of large ugly signs. :)

Amarillo

Oh my, what a long day. About 520 miles and we lost 2 hours because Arizona is not on MDT, but New Mexico is on MDT. Then, as we crossed into Texas, we entered CDT. We arrived about 7:30 p.m. local time. Aargh.

Highlight of the day: at some truck stop in NM, there was an Denny's inside the massive building. They featured the food pyramid of bacon, with the "ultimate" being an ice cream sundae with bacon on top. Is nothing sacred? Blechhh....

The cats are fine. Ed actually does better with no tranquilizers. Isabella gets a 1/4 pill each morning. Today's pics are of our room at the Quality Inn in Amarillo and a view of the inn from the parking lot.

We're on to Joplin tomorrow. No times changes. Yippee.

Holbrook, AZ

A long and windy day - with snow right down at the I-40 level as we passed through the higher elevations in AZ (Flagstaff and that area). Holbrook is rather desolate, but don't tell anyone I said that. The people are friendly - just the environment is desolate.

Tomorrow is our longest day, over 500 miles. We'll be on the western end of Amarillo tomorrow night. After that the scenery should improve. Oklahoma is generally greener than Texas, but it is early in spring. We're hoping for the best.

Pic #1 is Holbrook - I think those are petrified trees in the photo.
Pic #2 is Ed looking out the Comfort Inn window. He's wondering what in the heck has happened to his happy home in SLO.
Pic #2 is in Seligman, AZ. Bob wanted me to say that this is our motel for the night. Ha!

Gas and diesel prices are amazingly high. I paid $4.399 this morning in Barstow for gas; Bob paid the same in Seligman for diesel. We're hoping for lower prices soon!

Hi to friends and family.

Barstow!

We're in Barstow. It was a long day, because we had some trials and tribulations with the tow dolly. We finally abandoned it, back at SLO City Storage, the Penske place. We're driving both the car and the rental truck. Thank goodness for cell phones. Ring, ring. We need to stop. I have to go to the bathroom. Ring, ring. Pull over, we have to check the map. Etc., etc.

Tomorrow we get an early start and head for Holbrook, AZ. Weather has been pretty good. Rainy early and then clear with big puffy clouds in the desert. Cats are not happy, but bearing up with catlike fortitude. I have Isabella with me; Ed is with Bob.

Thinking of all of our friends and loved ones. XXOO

Truck loading day

I'm so tired I can barely blog! And I didn't load the truck ... the Meathead Movers boys did that (oh to be young and unarthritic again). Here are a few images of the day. Note the one Meathead Mover's T-shirt says "Stud" on the back. I didn't ask.

Laguna Lake overflows

Bob and I went out this morning to run some errands. We stopped by Laguna Lake to look at the road where we often ride our bikes. It's under water. In picture #2, I'm standing where I might normally be riding. In picture #1, the city of SLO has kindly informed us that the road is closed. Our friend Cyndee's house is across the way. We hope she's warm and dry.

Rain!

In the last 24 hours, we have had 4.75" in our rain gauge. It rained so hard at 2:00 a.m. that it scared me. I was up with Edward and together we wondered if we'd float away. Our street was a river, so I guess we could have floated away. Interesting end to a weird rainy season. December and very early January were very wet, then we had a month and a half of "spring," and then it started raining again (though not with the ferocity of last night). I'll go ahead and say it: enough already. We load the moving truck on Tuesday, clean the house on Weds., and we're off to Ohio on Thursday. We can use a bit of dry weather. Are you listening, rain gods?

It's come down to this

News from packing central:
I'm cleaning out the freezer and refrigerator. Therefore, I'm having Morningstar Farms veggie bacon strips and dill pickles for dinner. (You should see what I threw away - I'm sure there are species not yet known to science now residing in my garbage can.)